


The Legend of Mysterious Mattie

by sushi4427



Category: Pocket Monsters SPECIAL | Pokemon Adventures, Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series)
Genre: Gen, Hoenn, Johto, Memoir, Pokemon Master, kanto
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-06-14
Updated: 2013-06-14
Packaged: 2017-12-14 23:34:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,779
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/842715
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sushi4427/pseuds/sushi4427
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A series of short encounters with Mysterious Mattie, the world's first and only Pokemon master, who shook the foundation of battling without saying a single word.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Dissertation

_The Legend of Mysterious Mattie_

**Author's Note: So I wanted a Pokemon master. Which isn't really surprising; I imagine that 95% of the people in the Pokemon fandom have wanted to create an OC that also happened to be the most powerful trainer of all time. But I didn't want it to be some stereotypical trainer or Mary Sue. No, I wanted her to be unique. So unique that she seemed otherworldly. So otherworldly that people didn't even believe that she existed.**

**Yes, this is in the format of a paper by a college student. I've actually thought of her background too, oddly enough. This is a dissertation paper, or a paper that is written and presented to a committee in order to obtain your doctorate. I don't know if this is how they are actually written or presented, and I'm sure they're much longer, but heck, this is Pokemon, who cares about education anyway?**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon, but I happen to really like this character and her story so I claim that.**

 

 

{Submitted electronically at 5:32:12 p.m. by Skye Prendergast [Doctorate Candidate], to be presented for dissertation on April 23th}

       Pokemon training has been presented as many things: a sport, an art, a hobby. But no matter what, you can always present it in one simple way: anyone can do it, and anyone can be a master.

       But one does not simply master the delicacies of Pokemon battling. Veteran battlers who have been doing so for many years no doubt dot the street corners of any town you happen to visit, and they are more than willing to tell you of their adventures from times when they were younger and stronger and aiming to be champions. However, even these elders of our's seem incapable of obtaining the elusive title of "master". And yet generations upon generations follow in their well-tread footsteps, never reaching that level and mournfully acknowledging that no one ever will.

       So why is it that we all yearn to see someone rise to the top of the battling world, yet when we finally see someone do so we go so far as to denying the fact that they're living? The legend of Mysterious Mattie has been around for a long time, before the boy Red, who is believed to be her second, won his first Pokemon League at the Indigo Plateau (History of Pokemon League Champions, Volume IX page 1011). Though every region lays claim to the elusive trainer, it is popular belief that she originated in Hoenn. This is not only because the island is the venue of her first recorded sighting, but it is also due to the fact that nearly all her Pokemon hail from the region (Urban Legends: Just Beyond the Grasp of Reality page 74). Some time in Hoenn's cool autumn eight years ago, a sailor had a couple drinks after a long day near the docks. His tongue thoroughly loosened, he belted out a tale that would soon send every trainer in the region either into their safe homes or into the line of fire. He described a girl, not a day older than eleven, who sat down on the ground and drew while her Pokemon beat his into next week. It was literally no problem for her; none of his Pokemon even scratched her's, a Blaziken, and she never spoke a word and only looked up twice. (Urban Legends: Just Beyond the Grasp of Reality page 75)

       The story spread like wildfire, and soon similar stories began popping up all over Hoenn. They described a small girl with long, wavy black hair and small amber eyes, who would release a Pokemon and draw in a sketch book almost a third the size of her. She would never shout an order or even look as her team demolished anyone in their way; rather, she would glance up occasionally and politely take her prize money from her shocked opponent, disappearing before they could ask any questions. Eventually, this phantom trainer got a name: one of her opponents snapped out of their amazed stupor long enough to see a bronze nametag with the name "Mattie" engraved on it pinned to her bag. And since everyone likes a good illiteration, she was christened Mysterious Mattie. (Urban Legends: Just Beyond the Grasp of Reality page 77)

       Eventually, a list was put together and it was discovered that her team consisted of the following Pokemon:

       An Electivire, male, bigger than normal. Could defy logic by attacking Ground-types.

       A Blaziken, male, a little small. Could kill you with his blazing fire or his lightning fast Fighting attacks.

       A Roserade, female, normal size and demeanor. Could put out fires with her leaves and powders.

       A Metagross, male, much bigger than normal. Was so powerful that it is estimated it could mentally crush an entire city.

       A Salamence, female. Graceful in the sky, vicious on the ground.

       A Walrein, male, bigger than normal. Had perfect accuracy and therefore all his powerful Ice attacks hit. (Urban Legends: Just Beyond the Grasp of Reality pages 82-88)

       After acquiring her unforeseen fame, records show that Mattie left Hoenn and moved down into Johto. Her fights became less frequent, and it appears that she only did so when some unfortunate trainer made the mistake of challenging her to a battle. At this point, people were still puzzling over the key to the girl's power, and only when it appeared that she'd crossed almost all of Johto did someone come up with an explanation. (Urban Legends: Just Beyond the Grasp of Reality page 77-78)

       Haunted houses were on the rise. After discoveries of eerie locations such as Old Chateau in Sinnoh and the Strange House in Unova, the existence of ghosts didn't seem like such a preposterous idea anymore. (Not a Pokemon: Supernatural Encounters Throughout the World pages 99, 234) And why not transfer such belief to this new legend? She never talked; her Pokemon were otherworldly. So it was unofficially decided: Mysterious Mattie was a ghost, and there was no chance she could ever be defeated. (Urban Legends: Just Beyond the Grasp of Reality page 90)

       After this, sightings of Mysterious Mattie deteriorated. There were a few in Kanto after one in Johto, but after that she dropped even more off the globe than she already was. The popular opinion was that, after being discovered for her true paranormal self, Mattie moved on to a greater part of the afterlife. Still, people kept their eyes peeled for her, an older girl now with long black hair and, most notably, knee-high and velcroed Converse. (Urban Legends: Just Beyond the Grasp of Reality page 91-93)

       But no one ever saw anything. After a year of no Mattie, everyone came to their different conclusions. Some stuck to their former conclusion, that she'd moved on to a fuller afterlife. Others said she went into hiding. One of the lesser accepted conclusions (lesser accepted but widely spread) was that she had never been real at all, and she was nothing more than a figment of a drunk man's and consequently hopeful trainers' imaginations. (Urban Legends: Just Beyond the Grasp of Reality page 94)

       There have been no recorded Mattie sightings in five years. No matter what conclusion you have come to about the first Pokemon master's disappearance, it seems obvious that she's gone and plans on staying that way. The only thing she leaves behind is the memories of the few trainers unlucky (or lucky, depending on how you look at it) enough to battle her, and the legend of Mysterious Mattie.

{End of report}


	2. The Girl with the Sketchpad

_The Legend of Mysterious Mattie_

 

　

       The girl with the sketchpad became an odd, delightful part of my day whenever she blessed me with her presence. I never asked questions, not for a long time. It's not a grocer's job to converse with customers, just to give them their groceries as quickly as possible to move onto the next person.

       But I couldn't have talked to her if I wanted to. She always hid her face behind her enormous sketchpad, glancing at my products for a moment even though she already knew what she wanted. The pad would fall open and a list would be there for me to read, clear as day, no complaints or demands for better prices. The third time she came by I considered asking for a name, or at least where her parents were, but decided against it.

       I don't know why I didn't ask her about her parents when she first came in. She couldn't be any older than fourteen or fifteen and was buying enough food to feed an army, always with cash. But something about this girl told me that she was capable of living however she wanted to, even if she looked like a child in those ridiculous shoes.

       The girl and I developed a sort of unspoken friendship. I would say hello and smile instead of grunt, and she would put down her sketchbook and smile back. She'd show me her list and I'd fill her order, already looking forward to her silent visit again.

       She and the store changed over time. It got busier after word got out that I was being more sociable, because apparently before I was "off-putting". But what can I say? A customer who seemed unwilling to utter a word put me in a good mood. I enjoyed watching her come out of her shell, in her own way. One day, she showed me some of her pictures in the sketchbook while I waited for my incompetent assistant to get her something, and they all proved to be very impressive, which I made sure to tell her. Eventually, she even started nodding at the other customers, who seldom nodded back. And they say I was the off-putting one.

       This went on for a long time, perhaps a year. I would've loved to have a conversation with her, but decided that if she hadn't talked yet she never would. Finally, after so many months of this wordless friendship, I took a deep breath and said:

       "What's your name, kid?" She looked up at me, startled. For once I was glad the store wasn't crowded, because she stared at me for a long time and I didn't want to rush her. Finally, she took a pencil that had been hidden in her messy black hair and added one word to the grocery list: Mattie. I nodded and handed her her bag.

       "Here's your order, Mattie." She nodded, took the bag, and ran in a different direction than she normally did.

       She never came back.


End file.
